'Digital future' for CVs?

21/08/2008

Four out of five US employers are now happy to receive video-based CVs instead of the more traditional document versions, research has suggested.

Law firm Cobbetts indicates that this trend has been influenced by changes in technology and the ever growing popularity of video sharing sites like YouTube.

However, Judith Watson, head of employment for Cobbetts, told onerec.com that personal information such as age, race, sex, appearance or disability should not be taken into account by employers when assessing visual CVs.

"The video CV gives employers the opportunity to assess a candidate's compatibility straight away, which may lead to a faster and more efficient selection process," she said.

"However, it is still possible - and even likely - that they will make stereotypical assumptions based upon what they see, leaving themselves wide open to discrimination claims."

The trend is slowly being adopted in the UK, but at present only four per cent of British candidates opt to apply with a video CV.

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